1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an ink for ink jet recording and an ink set for ink jet recording.
2. Related Art
Ink jet recording methods are printing methods in which printing is performed by causing small ink droplets to fly through the air and causing these droplets to adhere to a recording medium such as paper and the like. Due to recent innovative advancement in ink jet recording technologies, ink jet recording methods are being increasingly employed in the fields of high-definition printing that have been realized only by silver halide photography and off-set printing heretofore. With this advancement, inks for ink jet recording have been developed, which can produce images having glossiness comparable to silver halide photography by ink jet recording using highly glossy recording media, that is, exclusive paper, comparable to developing paper, art paper, or the like that have been used in the fields of silver halide photos and off-set printing. Moreover, inks for ink jet recording that can achieve image quality comparable to silver halide photos even when plain paper is used have been developed.
Furthermore, pale inks of light cyan, light magenta, or the like have been recently attracting attention in order to obtain an image that exhibits gradation of color more naturally and clearly.
By way of one example, JP-A-2001-123098 discloses an ink composition for ink jet recording, including at least a water-based dispersion of a pigment, polymer fine particles, a water-soluble organic solvent, and water, wherein the water-based dispersion of a pigment includes a polymerizable surfactant having both non-ionic hydrophilicity and anionic hydrophilicity, and a polymer composed of monomers.
By way of another example, JP-A-2006-96933 discloses an ink jet ink including at least a pigment, a polymer compound A, and a polymer compound B, wherein the polymer compound A is an amphiphilic polymer compound, and the polymer compound B is a polymer compound having a glass transition point (Tg) of −30° C. or higher and 60° C. or lower.
By way of still another example, JP-A-2009-209338 discloses an ink composition for ink jet recording including at least a colorant, water, an alcohol solvent, and a surfactant, wherein the alcohol solvent includes a sparingly water-soluble alkanediol, a water-soluble 1,2-alkanediol, and a dialkylene glycol.
However, the technology described in any of JP-A-2001-123098, JP-A-2006-96933, and JP-A-2009-209338, when it is applied as a pale ink, has deterioration or needs improvement in terms of at least one of clogging recoverability, and occurrence of bleeding and beading.